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Comparing Matthew And Luke's View Of Temptation In The Gospel Of Mark

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“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). The temptation in the desert is a major event in biblical history because we see Jesus being tempted by the devil. This story is told in the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of Luke and partly in the Gospel of Mark. This story means a lot to Christians because it is able to show us how to handle temptation and it also shows us the strength and love that Jesus had. However, temptation can be a very powerful thing and reading how Jesus handled the situation can help all of us overcome it and not give in. There are many different interpretations of this story but there is consistency in the message that it teaches us. In the Gospel of Mark the …show more content…

The Gospel of Mark only has 2 verses about the temptation, whereas, Matthew and Luke tell the whole story. Although they are similar, the way the temptation story is told varies between the two Gospels. The main difference between the temptation story in Matthew and Luke is the order in which the temptations from Satan occur. In Luke, the devil tells Jesus to turn the stone to bread, then he tells Jesus to worship him and lastly, he tells Jesus to test God by jumping off the highest point of the Temple. The Gospel of Matthew is different because the Devil tells Jesus to jump first and then worship him. In Luke, the first verse specifies that Jesus was returning from the Jordan River which is not stated in Matthew. Also, in Matthew the last verse states that angels came to take care of Jesus after the devil went away. However, these differences are minimal because the main content of the story is consistent in both Gospels and even follows the short description in Mark. The similarities of this story is not limited to just the Gospels. The story of Jesus fasting for forty days in the wilderness also is similar to the stories of the forty day fasts of Elijah and Moses. In the commentaries that I researched they breakdown what the story of Jesus’ temptations mean for us spiritually as Christians. In an excerpt from Matthew’s Good News commentary, this point is

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